In the run-up to the May festivities the Belarusian automobile engineering company BelAZ, one of the top companies on the world market of haul trucks, rolled out vehicles powered by the fifth-generation communication technology.
The first unmanned haul trucks and a loader connected using a 5G communication technology were tested in the company’s proving ground in Zhodino. The Belarusian company became interested in the innovative product three years ago since advantages of unmanned vehicles are obvious: mining operations become more and more complicated year after year while open pits can be 800 meters deep. BelAZ’s first unmanned dump trucks were successfully tested in Russia’s Republic of Khakassia. The company decided to move on and design vehicles using the 5G platform powered by the Belarusian telecommunication company beCloud.
BeCloud specialists have been able to reduce the response time of the giant vehicles to 10 milliseconds, which is noticeably faster than the 3G and 4G technologies BelAZ used in the past. As a result, the “hypersensitive” haul trucks can work autonomously (as robots with preprogrammed tasks) or can be controlled by remote operators (one man can control five to seven vehicles). The operator can be anywhere – in a nearby building, in another city, another country, and even on another continent. If the vehicle loses Internet access, it will stop until the connection is restored. In addition to giving colossal benefits from operating the vehicles 24/7 the approach allows operating the vehicles in hazardous conditions: dust, smoke, and even radiation will not interfere with these vehicles.
The innovative 5G communication platform can soon become a breakthrough for Belarus’ entire mechanical engineering industry and can be a substantial advantage over competition. By the way, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has repeatedly emphasized this kind of interaction the conventional industry and high technologies need in the 21st century, including in the latest address to the nation and the parliament.
Footage from BelAZ’s testing ground is in our report.